A beginners guide to the heritage, culture, places to visit and shop, food and delicacies and lifestyle in Delhi.

1. Know More About Delhi
By Adarsh Das

2. Index
❖ Heritage of Delhi
❖ Culture of Delhi
❖ Places to Visit
❖ Food and Delicacy
❖ Shopping

5. Heritage of Delhi
Prehistory to Modern times
Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,
Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast.
(If there is a paradise on earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this)
-Amir Khusrow

6. Indraprashtha
❖ Was one of the villages that were
demanded by the Pandavas after they
completed their exile.
❖ After the Kurukshetra war, the
Pandavas made Indraprashtha the
capital of their kingdom.

7. Eight Cities of Delhi
● Mehrauli
● Siri
● Tughlaqabad
● Jahanpanah
● Ferozabad
● Dinpanah
● Shahjahanabad
● New Delhi

8. Delhi Sultanate
● From 1206, Delhi became the capital of the Delhi
Sultanate. First Sultan of Delhi was Qutb-ud-din Aibak
of Slave Dynasty. He was also the one who started the
construction of Qutub Minar.
● Then the city was successively ruled by Khilji, Tughlaq,
Sayyid and Lodhi Dynasties.
● In 1398, India was invaded by Timur Lang and the city
was sacked, destroyed and left in ruins.
● In 1526, following the First Battle of Panipat, Babur
defeated Ibrahim Lodhi, the last Sultan of Delhi and
established Mughal Dynasty.

9. Shahjahanabad
● Became capital once again in 1648 when Shah Jahan
shifted the capital from Agra.
● He build another city in Delhi called Shahjahanabad
which has the Red Fort, Chandni Chowk and Jama
Masjid.
● In 1739, the city was again sacked and destroyed
after Nadir Shah invaded. He also looted and carried
away with him the Peacock Throne, Daria-i-Noor and
Koh-i-Noor diamonds.

10. New Delhi
● In 1911, Delhi replaced Calcutta as the capital of British
India and has been the capital ever since.
● Another city called New Delhi was commissioned by the
British and was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.
● The capital complex has all the important
establishments of the Central Government like the
Parliament, Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate.

11. Culture of Delhi

12. Festivals
● Makar Sankranti
● Republic Day
● Lohri
● Holi
● Id-ul-Fitr
● Id-ul-Adha
● Independence Day
● Dusherra
● Diwali
● Christmas

13. Literature
● Delhi has been the city of many poets like
Ghalib, Daagh Dehlvi, Nida Fazli and Zauq.
● Famous writers from Delhi are Siddhartha
Mukherjee and Amrita Pritam.
● Famous novelists from Delhi are Chetan
Bhagat, Kiran Desai and Krishna Sobti.
● Khari Boli, which is the standard dialect of
the Hindi language is from Delhi.

14. Dance
● Dance forms which are from Delhi are the
ones which are popular in North India like
Bhangra, Gidha and Kathak.

15. Music
● Hindustani Classical music has deep
roots in Delhi.
● Ghazal, qawwali and Sufi devotional
music has a history in Delhi.
● Amir Khusrau is believed to have
invented sitar.

16. Arts and Crafts
● Mughal Painting flourished during the rule of
Mughal rulers.
● Carpet weaving and metal crafting was
introduced to the city because of the Persian
connection.
● Zardozi, traditional embroidery work, on
garments like lehengas and sarees.
● Meenakari is art form of painting metal and
ceramic surfaces which also came from Persia.

17. Places to Visit

18. Qutb Minar complex
● UNESCO World Heritage Site
● Has Alai Darwaza and Qutub Minar.
● Tomb of Iltutmish and Iman Zamin.
● Tomb of Alauddin Khilji and his madrasa.
● Incomplete Alai Minar.

19. Humayun’s Tomb
● Build by Humayun’s queen, Bega
Begum
● First-garden tomb in Indian
Subcontinent
● This where Bahadur Shah Zafar, last
Mughal Emperor, took refuge during
the Indian Rebellion of 1857

20. Red Fort
● UNESCO World Heritage Site
● Diwan-i-Aam, Diwan-i-Khas, Moti
Masjid, Hayat Bakhsh Bagh and
Chhatta Chowk are inside the Red
Fort complex.

21. India Gate
● Memorial to the soldiers who died in the
First World War
● Amar Jawan Jyoti built after the 1971
Indo-Pak War.
● National War Memorial is built adjoining
to India Gate to honour the Armed Forces

22. Lotus Temple
● Baháʼí House of Worship
● Lotus Temple has won numerous
architectural awards
● A 2001 CNN report referred to it as
the most visited building in the
world.

23. Jama Masjid
● One of the largest mosques in India.
● Two 40-metre tall minarets
constructed of strips of red
sandstone and smooth white marble

24. Akshardham
● The complex displays millennia of
traditional Hindu culture,
spirituality, and architecture
● Exhibitions, gardens and water
show in the evening

25. Nizamuddin Dargah
● It is the mausoleum of the Sufi saint
Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya.
● The tombs of Amir Khusrau and
Jehan Ara Begum, Shah Jahan's
daughter, are also located in the
complex.
● The site is also known for its evening
qawwali devotional music sessions.

26. Gurudwara Bangla Sahib
● One of the most prominent Sikh
gurdwara in Delhi
● Known for its association with the eighth
Sikh Guru, Guru Har Krishan and the the
holy river inside its complex, known as
the "Sarovar."

27. National Museum
● The museum has around 200,000
works of art, both of Indian and
foreign origin, covering over 5,000
years
● The collection includes Dancing Girl
from Mohenjodaro and Ivory carved
tusk depicting Buddha life stories

28. Food and Delicacy

29. Mughal Cuisine
Nihari Biryani

30. Mughal Cuisine
Seekh Kebab Kulfi

31. Punjabi Cuisine
Butter Chicken Naan

32. Punjabi Cuisine
Tandoori Chicken Lassi

33. Chole Bhature

34. Kachori

35. Chaat

36. Dahi Bhalla

37. Shopping

38. Karol Bagh

39. Chandni Chowk

40. Connaught Place

41. Delhi Haat

42. Sarojini Nagar

43. Thank you!
"Once there was nothing here.
Now look how minarets camouflage the
sunset.
Do you hear the call to prayer?
It leaves me unwinding scrolls of legend
till I reach the first brick they brought
here.
How the prayers rose, brick by brick?"
- Agha Shahid Ali -